(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and method, more particularly, to an image processing apparatus and method for determining a blending value according to a motion level of an image.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Video content typically includes a plurality of frames or fields, and the frames (or fields) are transmitted as a consecutive sequence. During transmission, if there is a moving object in the video content, pixel differences are present between current and previous frames, that is, differences between pixel values of pixels of the same location occur with respect to present and previous frames. This is because a pixel may be part of an object in the previous frame, and the same pixel may change to be part of the background in the current frame. Therefore, the error is the pixel difference between the object and the background.
At present, mean absolute difference (MAD) is the most widely used technique for determining whether video content exhibits moving object characteristics. This is accomplished by comparing a MAD value with a predetermined threshold value. The larger MAD value, the greater number of pixel differences caused by object movement, and the smaller MAD value, the smaller number of pixel differences caused by object movement. Therefore, conventional approaches use the size of the numerical value of MAD to determine whether there is object movement.
However, in some special cases, for example: the objects the image moving rapidly back and forth, the moving object may be considered as stationary through the calculation of MAD, therefore, the mistaking movement will occurs. Blending the image in such mistaking movement, the end result will be image streaking.